Super Evil?
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
So, a few weeks ago, my ever internet-vigilant friend sent me this link, pointing out the 'Gommie' posters, and saying merely, "Waddy has gone too far". I was pretty appalled by the racism of the 'Gommie posters', especially the one pictured above, and although this stuff is over a year old, it just seemed to fit right into the current climate of cool white kids making ‘satirical’ work that is just blatantly offensive (see Xander Ferreira etc.)
Since I didn’t think MaxNormal TV were particularly good anyway, I was totally ready to give up on Waddy and his cronies. But then I saw his new project, Die Antwoord, at Ramfest on the weekend and was totally blown away. Aforementioned friend suggested that this may have had something to do with the state I was in, and while he has a point, after much consideration I have decided that he is wrong and Die Antwoord is totally rad. Especially ‘Doos Dronk’, a song with Fokofpolisiekar and Jack Parow. (Listen to it, and their other songs on their Myspace).
On the other hand, they have already been criticised for their “skollie-vannie-flats” routine. Fair enough especially when you consider not only the aforementioned racist posters, and the fact that Waddy once actually said “I like coloureds, I want to be coloured.” Problematic? Certainly.
On the other hand, are playing in the Cape Flats next week, which at least suggests they’re not just wannabes exoticising a culture and accent to their mostly white audience. Or maybe they just do want to be coloured. (It should also be noted that a lot of their content and styling is directly influenced by a faux white-trash aesthetic).
Probably the most interesting thing about Die Antwoord, though, is that they got Roger Ballen to do their CD cover images. The photographer famous for taking hardcore, offensive and generally frowned-upon images of, basically, white trash Afrikaners from the Platteland, is a brave and smart choice for the project I think – particularly considering notions of the constructions inherent in Ballan’s work (conspicuously in his later work and certainly present in earlier stuff), as well as his associations with a particular kind of white South Africa.
Anyway, I am too tired to think about this any more. But I know that something interesting is definitely happening here.
Anyone want to come to the Cape Flats with me to see them next week?
posted by Linda Stupart at 5:30 PM
10 Comments:
nai bra, ons gaan skop a jol!
I'm taking that as a yes...
SKOLLIE-VANNIE-KAAP!
SKOLLI-VANNIE-FLATS
SKOLLIE-VANNIE-STRATE!
I-FUCKED-UP!
Linda!
There is something about this extreme out-there I'm-a-racist-and-proud kind of Xander Fereirra kind of art... dodgy as it is, it's actually FROM HERE, and we are actually looking at and discussing local artists when we talk about this stuff, and local artists that are making work that is somehow trying to deal with actually being in Africa. The horror, the horror.
And not everyone who plays with this stuff is white. The white people just look a whole lot worse. So that is interesting. Is it because they really are worse? It would appear so.
Is Waddy really that stupid? I doubt it? Questions questions questions.
Wow Linda thanks for once again giving us a sense of high-horse moral clarity. We'd be totally lost without you.
I really liked their performance (there are some video snipets from the Ramfest performance on Speakerbox's website, as well as some tracks for download) and while I'm still fairly unacquainted with Waddy's music, I don't think the hip-racist ideal is what he's aiming for. I think he takes the piss and it's sometimes easy to confuse his humour and understand it in the wrong light. Why else would he be so seemingly genuine in his interest and invovlement in the Coloured community? why would he otherwise try to bridge these social gaps between us and them?
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